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Chapter 170: Nonsense!
Chapter 170: Nonsense!
Tea Caihua rushed to the large ship and began touching it all over, marveling at its size.
What a magnificent ship!
Tea Caihua thoroughly examined the ship, then boarded it, touching everything in sight. A smile spread across her face.
Haha... Her family also owned an ocean-going vessel now.
They had become a powerful force in the fishing industry.
Tea Caihua knew that most of the families with large ships were several good friends who had pooled their resources to purchase them. Now that her family had split, she wondered how this ship would be accounted for. Would it be considered a share for the second brother?
Tea Caihua didn't doubt for a moment that the ship had been ordered before the family split.
If it had been ordered after the split, how could such a massive ship have been delivered so quickly? It would have taken at least a year or more! She was well aware of this common knowledge.
Tea Caihua asked Zhou Mu, "Mom, since we bought a big ship, should we have a celebratory dinner tonight?"
Zhou Mu was surrounded by people, and upon hearing Tea Caihua's words, she smiled and replied, "Yes, let's have dinner together. Invite Ah Guang and his brothers over to the old residence for the meal."
They hadn't even had lunch yet, but it wasn't a big deal to skip a meal. Besides, there were plenty of snacks at home. She had steamed sponge cakes and corn in the pot, and she had also boiled eggs. Anyone who was hungry could just take some from the pot.
Tea Caihua smiled and said, "Then I'll go to the vegetable garden to pick some vegetables!"
Zhou Mu was still busy and couldn't leave right away, so she smiled and said, "Sure, I'll be back soon. The meat and vegetables are all prepared."
"Okay," Tea Caihua agreed with a smile. She looked around and noticed Jiang Xia taking photos of Zhou Zhou, Zhou Jie, and Guangzong Yaozu with a camera.
Tea Caihua didn't mind that Jiang Xia was playing instead of working. She quickly ran to the vegetable garden to pick some vegetables.
On her way, she saw a vendor selling ice pops and bought a two-fen ice pop for the children, including Jiang Xia!
The children were delighted!
Guangzong Yaozu exchanged glances, each seeing the unspoken words "What's wrong with her?" in the other's eyes.
Jiang Xia was also surprised and instinctively refused, but Tea Caihua smiled and pushed the ice pop into her hand, saying, "Go ahead and eat it! Why be so polite?"
Then she happily ran off.
On her way back, she met a vendor selling pork who had only a rack of ribs left. She generously spent ten yuan to buy the entire rack.
Perhaps because the village was bustling that day, there was also a vendor selling watermelons. She bought a large watermelon.
From now on, her family would be among those who owned an ocean-going vessel, and she was willing to spend this money.
Tea Caihua carried the watermelon and held the rack of ribs, humming a tune out of tune as she made her way to the vegetable garden.
Jiang Xia walked towards Zhou Chengxin with the ice pop.
Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengxin carried the fish to the purchasing point and sold it. They had 3,500 pounds of yellow croaker, selling at 30 cents per pound, for a total of 4,550 yuan.
If they hadn't given away over 200 pounds of fish and kept a basketful at home, they could have made even more money.
Mr. Jin, at the purchasing point, was stuffing stacks of large denomination banknotes into a black bag while smiling and saying, "Impressive! You bought a big ship without making a sound! From now on, the entire village's catch won't be enough for you. You've almost emptied my drawer of money."
Zhou Chenglei just smiled and briefly explained, "It was a great bargain because someone else canceled their order. Otherwise, I couldn't afford it."
Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengxin exchanged a few more pleasantries with the buyer before leaving with several stacks of large denomination banknotes.
Jiang Xia approached them and handed the ice pop to Zhou Chengxin, saying, "Big Brother, have this ice pop to cool off."
Zhou Chenglei was speechless.
He couldn't help but glance at Jiang Xia.
Zhou Chengxin noticed the resentment in his fourth brother's eyes and smiled as he took the ice pop, biting into it. "Thank you, Xia. It's so sweet!"
Zhou Chenglei was stunned.
Jiang Xia laughed and said, "It was bought by the eldest sister-in-law for you."
Only then did Zhou Chenglei's expression return to normal. He took her hand and asked, "Shall we go home?"
It was around two in the afternoon, the hottest time of the day. She was sweating profusely, but fortunately, her dark-colored clothes didn't show the sweat on her chest and back.
"Okay, let's go back and see how the foundation is coming along," Jiang Xia said, feeling the heat. She looked over and saw Zhou Fu on the ship, showing the villagers around the new ship and enthusiastically explaining its features.
Zhou Mu was also surrounded by people, like the moon among the stars.
They were all excited and probably wouldn't be returning home anytime soon.
Zhou Chenglei adjusted her straw hat and wiped the sweat from her forehead, nodding in agreement.
Jiang Xia reminded Guangzong Yaozu and his brothers to take care of Zhou Zhou and Zhou Jie, telling them not to play in the sea. Then, the couple, along with Zhou Chengxin, pushed a basket of fish and two boxes of fruit and sacrificial offerings, gifts from Zhou Factory Director, back home.
When they arrived, they saw Great-Grandmother sitting outside the courtyard gate, dividing up dried fish.
Across the homestead site, Great-Grandpa was leading the workers with great enthusiasm. The once flat land had been excavated, revealing the foundation for the house layout.
Piles of yellow earth were scattered across the ground.
Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei both noticed that the neighboring homestead site was also digging foundations, but neither said a word.
Both were extremely rational and mentally strong, unaffected by outsiders.
Zhou Chengxin, however, couldn't help but blurt out, "Uncle Qiang's family is also starting construction today? Won't Dad be furious when he returns?"
Jiang Xia smiled, "Why wouldn't it be the other way around? I think Dad will be very happy later on."
After all, in the future, he wouldn't have to walk too far to visit Zhou Bingqiang.
Zhou Chengxin was taken aback for a moment, then realized what she meant and laughed, "Xia Xia is right!"
In the past, whenever Zhou Bingqiang earned a lot of money, he would flaunt it in front of his father. His father would avoid Uncle Qiang whenever they met.
Now, with the fourth brother owning an ocean-going ship, the earnings from a single trip could potentially match what Zhou Bingqiang makes in ten days. His father would definitely visit Uncle Qiang every day to boast!
Great-Grandma, upon seeing their return, smiled and asked, "Back already? How big is the ship?"
Jiang Xia replied with a smile, "It's bigger than the previous one, Great-Grandma. After the sun sets, you can go and take a look."
Great-Grandma put down the winnowing basket of dried fish, stood up, and cheerfully said, "I must go and see it. I've made some mung bean congee, cooled with well water, for you to drink and cool off."
As she spoke, she went into the house and served them three bowls of mung bean congee, along with a plate of golden-brown sweet potato pancakes.
During the hot summer afternoons, sometimes you can't eat much, so having some mung bean congee is a great way to cool down and relieve the heat.
Jiang Xia washed her hands and face in the courtyard, then took a bowl of mung bean soup and sat outside the courtyard gate on a stone, holding the soup in one hand and a piece of sweet potato pancake in the other. She ate a mouthful of soup and a bite of pancake.
Looking at the neighboring homestead site, she asked, "Great-Grandma, did my mom get upset today?"
Great-Grandma smiled and told Jiang Xia about the lion dance.
Hearing this, Jiang Xia couldn't help but laugh.
After finishing a bowl of mung bean soup and a piece of sweet potato pancake, and eating a corn cob and two eggs that Zhou Chenglei had peeled for her, Jiang Xia was full.
Just as she finished, Tea Caihua arrived with a large watermelon, a rack of ribs, and a big basket of vegetables, leaving Jiang Xia stunned.
Tea Caihua happily said, "Xia Xia, Mom said we should have dinner together tonight to celebrate. I picked some vegetables to cook."
After Zhou Chengxin finished eating, he went to help with the foundation digging. Seeing the items in his wife's hands, he was surprised, then felt that she had finally done something right.
Jiang Xia thought that Tea Caihua might have misunderstood, so she smiled and agreed, then invited Great-Grandma's family to come for dinner that evening before returning to prepare the meal.
Great-Grandma came over to help with the fire.
Today, two chickens were sacrificed for the ceremony, and ten pounds of roast meat were purchased. The night before, she had soaked some abalone, and today, after returning from the sea, she brought home a basket of yellow croaker to share with the construction workers and her family.
Jiang Xia considered the dishes and felt they didn't have enough meat and vegetables, so she asked Zhou Chenglei to buy more seafood when the fishing boat docked later.
Zhou Chenglei, shovel in hand, digging the foundation, responded with a nod.
But before long, Zhou Mu returned with a large bucket of seafood.
The dinner was exceptionally abundant. Jiang Xia took charge of the cooking, while the others assisted. They made abalone braised chicken, pan-fried golden oysters, blanched shrimp, stir-fried chili roast meat, shrimp and baby fish with leeks, pickled vegetable fish, garlic butter butterfly shrimp, vermicelli steamed squid, braised ribs, garlic steamed wax gourd, stir-fried water spinach, cucumber salad, and a wintermelon seaweed egg drop soup.
After the three families finished their meal, Zhou Chenglei asked Zhou Yongguo to go out to sea with the large ship tomorrow.
Tomorrow, Zhou Chenglei planned to first place the two large fish cages at the bottom of the sea and try raising fish. In a couple of days, when his comrades arrived, they would venture into the open sea.
Zhou Yongguo smiled and agreed.
Tea Caihua took the opportunity to ask with a smile, "In the future, how will the large ship and the small ship take turns going out? Will the fourth brother and Chengxin take turns going out to the open sea, or will the three of you take turns?"
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at her.
Zhou Chengxin stared at her, "The large ship is something Alei bought himself. Why should we take turns?"
Tea Caihua looked at Zhou Chengxin in disbelief, "How could the large ship possibly be something Alei bought himself? Do you think I don't know how long it takes to order a large ship? How long has it been since we split the family? Only about three months. Even ordering a small ship doesn't take this long, let alone such a big ship."
Who are you trying to fool?
(End of Chapter)
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